


The Subtextual Aftermath

by destraya



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 10x05, Embarrassed Dean, Episode: s10e05 Fan Fiction, First Kiss, Fluff, I'm Sorry, M/M, Post-Episode: s10e05 Fan Fiction, Sam finds Tumblr, Shipper!Sam, fan fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2014-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-25 11:30:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2620187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destraya/pseuds/destraya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Upon discovering Destiel, Sam decides to do some much-needed research and ends up finding Tumblr, the mystical universe of all things subtext. Being the great brother he is, he can't help but to share some of his findings with Dean and Cas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Subtextual Aftermath

"I still think it should be Deastiel." Sam yells over the Zepplin loudly filling the Impala. Sammy's been an annoying little bitch ever since that stupid musical with those stupid kids and their stupid subtext, and Dean's doing all he can to block out Sam's insufferable comments on the journey to a hotel interstate.

"What happened to Samstiel or whatever?" Dean groans, giving in and turning the music down.

"I mean, I did some research earlier and I _did_ find _some_ stuff about Cas and I, subtext and whatever you will, but the crap I found for Destiel was _insane_." Dean's eyes widen at the thought of what those crazy kids could be putting over the net about he and the angel, and he death-glares his brother through the rearview mirror, but he's definitely interested.

"Like, what kind of crap?" Dean narrows his brows in a failing attempt to keep his attention on the road ahead.

Sam grins and sits up straight as if he's got a long speech ahead of him. And he definitely does.

"Well, there's fan art, fan fiction, more explicit, I guess, fan art and then a whole lot more of your explicit-type fan fiction." Sam says proudly, confident in his research.

Dean shoots Sam a confused look and the younger man just smirks wider. "Basically, what I've gathered so far is that there's this website called Tumblr where most of this stuff is found. Supernatural Fan HQ, it seems. Anyway, there's hundreds, thousands, maybe, of blogs within this _Tumblr_ dedicated to the subtext between you and Castiel."

He has Dean's attention for sure.

"These people are really, really devoted. They spend hours drawing, painting and writing all of this stuff and I guess Tumblr is the place where they choose to store it all and you know, share it amongst themselves."

Dean stops at a traffic light and turns to face Sam, who has a smug look on his face as he pulls out his laptop, typing in the password and opening Chrome quickly.

"Also thanks to Tumblr," Sam begins as he speedily types 'tumblr.com' into the search bar, "I have also learned that it's quite the mystery to everyone who's read Chuck's books how I get internet access almost everywhere," he continues, chuckling slightly, "But really it's just because I have a good portable WiFi thingy." _Explained so well, it's a real wonder how any Supernatural fans are confused._

Dean fakes an equally puzzled look in reply, more curious about what exactly Sam is bringing up on that ever-cherished laptop of his than the mystery of his WiFi modem.

"Ah, yes. All the things I've reblogged since yesterday." Sam proclaims. "Shall I read you some of my favourites?" He asks even though he and Dean both know he hasn't got the slightest choice in the matter.

"Sammy, _no._ " Dean tries his best anyway. Sam laughs and shrugs, "Tough luck, man."

Dean curiously looks over Sammy's shoulder and snorts at his brother's choice in username. " _destielshippa4lyf?_ You've got to be kidding me."

"What? I've got to blend in with the rest of them." Sam retorts, scrolling up and down his list of reblogged posts looking for a particularly embarrassing bit of fan fiction to read to Dean. "Can't risk them knowing who I really am;" Sam pauses for dramatic effect, "Half of the famous _Sastiel._ "

Laughing, Dean says: "Please, those kids didn't even believe who we were until we ganked that bitch deity. I doubt you'll be noticed."

Sam just shrugs. "destielshippa4lyf, though, I think I did a pretty good job." Dean shakes his head at his brother's dorkiness but then snaps his eyes back to the page. "Wait, you don't actually 'ship' Cas and I, do you?"

Sam tilts his head to the side as if to think about it for a second before speaking. "I mean, I don't completely object to the idea...and you guys do make those pathetic googly eyes at each other a lot; _a lot;_ and it's cute I guess but then a little sickening and- I don't know. Destiel is, well, understandable, if you know what I mean."

 _Does Dean know what he means?_  His mind wanders off into the slightest possibility of Destiel ever becoming more than just subtext until he notices a very disturbing piece of what he thinks is referred to as fan art on the left of the laptop screen that makes him take his eyes off the road for a split second just to process it.

"Sammy, why _the fuck_ is Cas in a bee costume...and why am I a flower?"

Sam bursts out laughing, nearly dropping his prized laptop in the process, simply shaking his head in reply as he honestly still has no idea what the fuck to make of the image on his screen either.

Trying to regain his own composure at least a little, Dean shifts his focus back to the road and tries to block the image drawing out of his head but it's proving pretty difficult. That is, until Sam brings out the fan fiction.

"'Castiel Novak, aren't you a pretty one...' Dean smirks to himself as he watches his target depart the station through the rain-blurred window of his precious '67 Chevrolet Impala, or _Baby_ as he would prefer to call her." Dean rolls his eyes. _Baby deserves to be called Baby, okay?_ Also, 'Castiel Novak' isn't at all correct. Castiel has no surname. He's an angel, damn it. Jimmy Novak and Cas are two completely different people. Different beings for that matter. Whoever wrote this crap is an idiot.

"The already-soaked man's umbrella seems to be unreceptive as he hopelessly fumbles around to open it in an evident mess of rainwater and frustration. Dean sort of wants to help him - he's not generally all that bad of a guy, despite what he intends on doing tonight, of course -" Dean's nose scrunches up at the choice of words and what exactly the author seems to be implying, but he _is_ intrigued.

"But the way in which Novak's trench coat hugs his body as it's tightened in an attempt to keep him as dry as possible gives a well-appreciated preview of what's hopefully to come later in the evening." Dean has made a massive mistake in taking a sneaky swig of his beer at the stop sign they've reached because he nearly chokes on it. Consequently, Sam laughs again but soon regains a hold of himself just so he can read the next line; his personal favourite and what he assumes will get the best reaction out of Dean.

"Dean can't help but admire the view, licking his lips in clear anticipation. _Goddamn it, Dean, don't enjoy this too much._ " The last part is read in an obnoxiously high-pitched voice and Dean just rubs his head.

Thank fucking god Dean hadn't had a mouthful of beer for that sentence, otherwise it would've been sprayed across the inside of the Impala's windscreen by now.

Dean can feel the blush creeping up his ears and spreading over his cheeks, only to be confirmed by his brother's roaring laughter beside him and Dean groans. "Are you done now?" He sarcastically asks, though he gets the feeling Sam will never be done with _Destiel._

"Nope. There's more." He beams, waving his hands around in exaggerated excitement. _Great._

Dean scans over one of the street signs, telling him they've only got six or so miles to go. Not too bad. He can put up with Sam until then.

Hopefully.

"Okay, brace yourself. These people have no boundaries." Sam warns, an amused look still evident on his face.

Dean repeats his brother's words in a mocking tone, giving Sam the heads up to continue.

"When Dean stops at a traffic light, he can't help but slide down his specially-selected _best pair_ of jeans a little bit and take probably his hundredth look at what he has planned for Cas tonight." Dean shoots Sam an extremely alarmed look that just makes him want to go on even more.

"He runs his thumb over the satiny smooth fabric of the delicate panties," Dean chokes. No, no, no, no, _no._ If Chuck fucking wrote about that time Zachariah sent him into the future and how he had to tell his future self something only he would know; if Chuck wrote his exact fucking words in one of his stupid books, Dean was going to kick his ass no matter whether he was dead or not.

Sam is laughing incredulously hard as he continues. "It wasn't the first time he'd worn these. He'd built quite the collection, _actually,_ but never had he specifically worn them for anyone. Only for himself."

Dean's entire face is bright red and his palms are sweating onto the steering wheel. "I swear to god, kids, right?" He squeaks out, voice nearly cracking in embarrassment.

Sam smirks, "There's more, Dean. And it's...it's pretty much porn. Gay porn. You and Cas... _porn_." Dean's face scrunches up and he turns to yell at his brother, "Read it and I'll kick your freaking ass!"

Sam fucking _winks_ as he scrolls down to the bottom of the chapter and reads the first word to catch his eye in the most exaggerated sex voice ever. "' _Caaaaassss,_ '"

Dean had thought himself used to Cas mojo-ing himself into the backseat of the Impala uninvited, but this time he nearly swivels right off the fucking road when he hears the familiar flutter of wings behind him.

"Hello, Sam, _...Dean?_ "


	2. The Subtextual Aftermath 2: The Sequestiel

"Heh, heya, Cas. What's up, buddy?" Dean tries to act normal, arm shaking a little when he tries to rest it on the window in a relaxed sort-of manner.

"Are you feeling alright, Dean?" Cas asks seriously, noticing that Dean seems a little on-edge.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Cas." Dean lies, shifting in his seat uncomfortably. Sam is trying his best not to laugh so that he can watch Dean attempt to cope for a little while longer.

"Are you sure, Dean? Your face is a deep crimson colour and if my knowledge is correct that can indicate a bad fever, heat exhaustion or- _embarrassment?_ "

Dean mouths a 'You're horrible,' to his brother in the passenger seat who continues to smile innocently as he likewise continues to suffer through an incredibly awkward conversation with his co-subtextee.

"I'm totally fine, Cas. I swear." Cas isn't entirely convinced, but he's never fully understood humans anyway so he just accepts it and smiles at the hunter in front of him. "Good."

A strange silence fills the Impala, Cas trying his best not to worry about just how tight Dean is clenching the steering wheel and how the sweat beads up just below his hairline.

Sam plans to clear that up.

"So hey, Cas, you should see this." Sam bursts out, grinning and wiggling his eyebrows at Dean.

Cas unknowingly leans forward to get a good look at Sam's laptop all while Dean tries to think of an effective way to avert his eyes from the horror of Tumblr and worse, _Destiel._

"Adam's still in Hell!" He says, mentally punching himself for sounding so nervous in doing so.

Cas still doesn't look away from the computer. Son of a bitch.

" _Helloooo?_ Adam Milligan? _Our brother?_ Lucifer's Cage!" Dean babbles on hopelessly.

"Adam's fine. Michael is protecting him." Cas replies without making a lick of eye contact. He's telling the truth, too, for the most part. Michael _is_ protecting Adam from Lucifer in The Cage; maybe not from Hell itself but certainly from Lucifer at least.

Dean is relieved, partially, but the way in which Castiel concentrates on Sam's screen makes him want to get the hell out of there and fast.

"This is...this is myself and Dean, correct?" Cas questions without flinching. Sam nods, holding in his laughter.

To Dean's surprise, Cas just makes an acknowledging face and says: "Interesting."

"I commend this art style." He continues, pointing to the fan art in which Dean is almost completely fucking naked. "Very detailed, very nice."

Dean's eyes are watering a little when he squints at the road in front of him, desperately trying to pretend this isn't happening.

"What do you think, Dean?" He bites the inside of his lip, glancing at the drawing through the corner of his eye. His body tightens.

"I _think_ I shouldn't be standing right in front of you in nothing but cat underwear." Dean's words come out in a squeak towards the end.

Sam bats his eyes angelically, laughing a little, or a lot _,_  in the process.

"I think you look fine." Cas smiles, and Dean just blushes and shakes his head along with Sam's snickers.

"So, what have you boys been up to recently?" Cas asks, brushing off their previous conversation entirely.

"Destiel!" "Nothing!" Sam and Dean both reply at the same time, and Cas slumps back in his seat with a tiny chuckle, not saying another word.

"Don't you wanna know more about Destiel?" Sam offers, confused as to why the angel has taken this so well.

"I _know_ about Destiel." He says simply. "It's all about subtext between you and I, isn't it?" He asks Dean for confirmation who just breathes heavily and sits dead still. It's extremely difficult to drive with a possibly gay relationship hanging over your head, it proves.

"How do you know?" Sam quizzes, shooting Cas a both puzzled and amused look.

"Some time ago, Chuck and I...we talked, briefly, about _things._ "

Dean rubs his head in frustration. So, what, Cas has known about this for maybe four years now and he hasn't said anything? Weird. Although, he supposes he wouldn't have said anything either.

"I judged _you_ knew as well, Dean, just considering-" Cas is cut off by Dean's panicked tone, " _Considering?_ "

Cas makes a nonchalant face when he answers: "Subtext."

Oh god.

This is most likely the funniest exchange Sam has witnessed in his entire life, and he has to place a hand over his mouth just to stop him from laughing too audibly.

"Subtext, huh?" Dean repeats, sitting up straight and doing his best to hide his pinkened cheeks. "Damn that Chuck."


	3. The Subtextual Aftermath 3: The Third One (In Which Grown Men Make Out with Each Other and Stuff)

The rest of the drive back to the hotel is marked by loud, speech-blocking rock music and uncomfortable stares between brothers and subtextual lovers alike. _The real American dream._

Surprisingly, though, it's not too bad, since there are only three or so miles left to go and Sammy has finally shut up about Destiel.

For now.

Cas agrees to stay with the Winchesters at least overnight as he says he needs a small break from Hannah and the other angels. It's not that he doesn't like her, though. She's really nice and sweet compared to a lot of them, sure, but she can definitely come on a little strong sometimes.

Upon checking in, Dean realises that Sam hasn't given up on trying to make him crack just yet. Naturally, he's come up with a plan involving forcing the two key members of _Destiel_ together every chance he gets, and despite it being four in the fucking morning, he wants to go get breakfast.

"Sammy, _no._ " Dean sternly warns. All too familiar a phrase, he feels.

"What? I'm hungry and the sun's almost up," he pleads, using his famous puppy dog eyes on Cas. Goddamn it, _don't crack. don't crack..._

"Get me a hash brown, please." Cas falls right into Sam's trap. His human experience had really shown him just how much he liked the taste of fried potatoes, though he was still as gullible as ever.

"Of course, my dear Castiel. Now, I'll probably be gone quite a while so you kids have fuuuuun!" Sam beams, happily slamming the cheap hotel room door behind him, the little shit. 

"So...beds..." Dean clears his throat. _Jesus, why can't he string words together all of a sudden?_ "There's a double and two singles." Cas' stare is making Dean extremely nervous and he doesn't know why. If Sammy's right, he does enough that it should not be affecting him this much now. "You can take the double, whether you actually sleep or not." He finally finishes with minimal stuttering, and Cas smiles. 

"Though I have acquired grace, I still seem to get tired frequently and I sleep the majority of nights." Cas says quietly and Dean just nods. 

"I'm...gonna, uh, take a, shower, so, I'll, erm, see you later, I guess." _Wow._ Dean honestly wants to punch himself in the face after that mess of a sentence. 

Again, Cas freaking smiles and nods all while keeping his eyes locked with Dean's, and quite frankly the hunter cant wait to run straight into the bathroom like a nervous little teenager and immediately lock the door behind him. 

Instead of getting in the shower like he said, though, Dean just quietly sinks to the floor and fishes his cell phone out of his pocket with a disgruntled huff. 

"Ugh, Charlie, I wish you weren't still in Oz..." He mutters, scrolling past her contact. Surely she would have some good advice for him if he was only able to call her. 

"Destiel...Fan...Fiction..." He whispers as he timely types the three simple words into Google. He's either going to regret this or- _regret this_. He's going to regret this. 

A myriad of results come up on his screen. _Archive of Our Own, Tumblr, Fanfiction.net_...Far too many for Dean to process in his already confused head. Regardless, he decides to click on Tumblr just because he knows for sure there's limitless crap there. 

But why is Dean doing this? Why is the self-renowned King of Heterosexual Hookups and Extraordinary Manliness willingly looking to read completely un-heterosexual writings about he and his very male, very- _probably_ -heterosexual best friend who not to mention is also an extremely attractive self-titled wavelength of celestial being? 

Because Dean Winchester has a crush. And he's foolishly decided to consult the Supernatural fan base of all people regarding just what to do about that crush. 

Dean's eyes race past a number of disturbingly-titled pieces before he finds something titled 'Dean Winchester's Secret Crush.' _Coincidence, huh?_

He's skipping through the many, many descriptively-written paragraphs for the most part, but he _does_ fixate on a particular section where the word 'kiss' seems to be jumping right out at him. 

_Dean's heart is racing. Cas won't stop freakin' staring him in the eyes and it's really starting to take a toll on him. Even more than usual. Cas' bright blue orbs slowly fixate on Dean's pink lips and Dean can't take it anymore, so he kisses him. It's slow and cautious and Dean doesn't ever want to pull away, but eventually he has to. And when he does, he smiles and whispers, "Be my angel?"_

Okay, _no_. Dean would never say something so cheesy. But whoever wrote this crap has the right idea, and hell, you can't knock it 'til you try it. 

Shakily rising to his feet, Dean straightens his clothes and timely steps out of the small room with a clear plan of attack. Cas isn't gonna know what hit him. 

...Wait, that probably isn't the right phrase to use when you're talking about kissing someone. Oh well. 

"Weren't you going to have a shower?" Cas asks in a worried tone, looking down embarrassedly at his half-unbuttoned shirt. Dean doesn't say anything. 

"Is this about Destiel because I know the fans of the Supernatural book series can be a little odd and rather  _disturbing_ sometimes but there is no reason for you to feel uncomfortable about it because it's only subtext and it's not like you have any real sexual attraction towards me or any other male for that matter so-" By the time Cas runs short of words, Dean is standing barely a few inches away from him with the dorkiest grin on his face that Cas can't help but to laugh at it. 

_-so he kisses him._

Contrary to overly corny fan fiction he'd just read, Dean presses his lips onto Cas' _hard_ , giving it absolutely everything he's got. Cas honestly doesn't know how to react at first, but he's definitely enjoying the way in which Dean's hands roam his sides in a successful attempt to strip off his shirt. He could really get used to this. 

Soon enough, Cas has begun kissing Dean back, idly running some lazy fingers through the other man's hair while he does it. 

...And Marie was right. You really can't spell subtext without s-e-x.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WAS GOING TO LEAVE IT AT TWO CHAPTERS BUT I HAD TO MAKE THEM ACTUALLY DO THE GAY OKAY I'M SORRY


End file.
